heh...yeah. I've done a bunch of DIY for my modular and largely have had good luck learning to build my own, but then there are times (like now!) where something isn't working right and I stink like kitty poop when it comes to troubleshooting. So...no more DIY for me...only buying.

But, yes, I am again in love with sound design - just in a different capacity than ever before.

I've been slowing building my analog modular over the last year or so and for a long time, I tried hard to keep it in step with the computer side of things and do kind of a half and half deal...BUT...after crossing a certain line on my knowledge and experience with the modular, I have pretty much stopped using the computer for aynthing except recording.

Gradually the midi gear and pedals went away and now the plug-in effects are also being tossed in favor of cv analog delays and such.

There is something so rewarding, for me, about the kinds of sound I can achieve this way and as much as I think the computer world of music making is cool and has a lots of really great stuff to offer, it just isn't where my heart is anymore.

The simple "imperfections" in analog gear are truly beautiful and inspiring. Except when shit doesn't work, which sucks and makes me angry! ;-)

I intended the title as a complete play on words, in lieu of the more traditional (reprise) after the same title. Tonally, they are nearly the same, with the main difference being a subtle shift in the dynamic effects used during post-mix.

I was addicted to reverb units a number of years ago and was insanely particular about noise levels, artifacts, etc. I struggled with this for a long time - buy,sell,trade,etc - until, almost by accident I opted for a cheaper machine to use as a general multi-fx unit and had planned to ignore the reverb pretty much out of the box. Then I bought it and brought it home and accidentally loaded a reverb patch as the first thing I tried on it...at that point, my outlook on not just reverb-but all hardware gear and plug-ins alike changed drastically to where it remains today...

USE YOUR EARS ABOVE ALL ELSE. Price means nothing if you like the way it sounds. The name on the case or on the screen means nothing if you like the way it sounds. Ears, man...ears...

I strongly dislike the process of mastering pure ambient/spacemusic myself. I'll do it in a pinch, but frankly, I'd rather not have to. Too stressful!

Compression is one of my favorite things in the world - specifically, OVERcompression...on certain sources - most of which never show up in ambient music. This makes it difficult for me personally, to properly "massage" a really spacey track into where it should be. EQ and 'sutbletly' with the tools does seem to harvest the best results to my ears, but it requires a good deal of patience, trial and error to get it just right.

I'm finding that I have quickly gotten much better skilled at final mix/mastering on heavy, punchy music...but ambient remains, and always will remain a difficult mistress to master...